Elgin May Try To Block `Las Vegas-style' Club

Dominic Buttitta has a vision: flashy, beautiful-and fully clothed-women dancing across his stage, transforming the old Crocker Theater in downtown Elgin into a "Las Vegas-style nightclub."

And he says he already has dumped $700,000 into making that vision a reality.

But in what could become another move against an adult entertainment spot in the northwest suburbs, the Elgin City Council soon will consider an ordinance that would banish such nightclubs to industrial areas of the city.

"We felt that this was not an ideal location for this type of business," said Elgin Mayor Kevin Kelly. "If the law says that we cannot ban them altogether, then we're going to put them in the least visible area of Elgin."

The ordinance was developed by the city's seven-member Planning and Development Commission with the help of the city's Planning Department. It has now been forwarded to the City Council for consideration in the next few weeks.

It says, in essence, that any adult entertainment business-whether it's a bawdy nightclub or a pornographic bookstore-should be restricted to areas of the city zoned as industrial.

Ironically, Elgin fully approved of another adult entertainment facility in the downtown area-the Grand Victoria riverboat casino-despite objections from church leaders and others that gambling is morally wrong.

The ordinance was developed, say city leaders, after Buttitta, owner of the Crocker, floated an idea to convert the old movie hall to a nightclub complete with chorus-style dancing.

"We came to Elgin because there were no ordinances prior to this and because it's an enterprising area in downtown," said Buttitta, who bought the Crocker in August 1994 for $400,000 and has since spent $300,000 in renovations. "It seems a little unfair to me. What they are trying to do is put us in remote areas of Elgin. I'd have to build a whole new building. What do I do with the one I have?"

Kelly said that Buttitta approached him shortly after the mayor's election last spring.

"When he first came to me, I told him that the city would not support this," Kelly said.

In any event, the city and Buttitta both face a complicated future if the ordinance passes.

Elgin city leaders would have to decide what to do with a handful of businesses scattered about the city that currently sell adult magazines and videos, but are not located in Elgin's industrial areas or business parks.

"I don't know what the ultimate outcome will be, but the original intent was not to take Playboy magazines off the shelf," Kelly said. "The intent was to prohibit gentlemen's clubs from establishing themselves in Elgin."

Meanwhile, Buttitta is still waiting for a liquor license and said that he has his attorney monitoring the city's actions.

"We have some constitutional questions here," Buttitta said.

The debate about the adult hot spot comes on the heels of a similar dispute over an adult video store in unincorporated Palatine. In that case, owners of Rand Video are awaiting a Friday hearing in which they will appeal to a judge for permission to reopen.

Cook County officials had ordered the business closed because of building permit violations, and ultimately because it opened Sept. 11 in a commercial business zone of the county.

"Adult" uses are also restricted to industrial zones of Cook County if they fall in unincorporated areas.

Rand Video's attorney, Michael Null, filed suit against the county Sept. 5, contending that the zoning ordinance is unconstitutional because there are no storefronts available in industrial areas of the unincorporated sections of the county.

Meanwhile, as the Elgin City Council ponders the proposed ordinance and the moral and legal ramifications its adoption may have, residents who work downtown seemed edgy about the prospect of a new adult nightclub.

"I don't think it would help us, and I don't think it would hurt us," said Karen Kadlecik, assistant manager of Seattle Mountain Coffees, a relative newcomer to downtown. "But I don't think it would bring around people who would use our business."

Jean White, director of adult day care at Senior Services Associates, Inc., said some of the seniors at the center would probably attend the shows at an adult nightclub.

But she said she did not support such a place on principle.

"I'm morally opposed to some of the things going on there, the showgirls and the scantily clad ladies," White said. "I just think it's not a positive aspect for the community."